Advice on nut files

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I want to get a fairly decent set of nut files. I can’t afford Hosco but is there a set for around £20 that would be adequate for me to cut a few nuts a year? Lots on eBay but it’s a minefield! 

Thanks guys



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Comments

  • andy_kandy_k Frets: 818
    A lot of the ones i see on Ebay, look like the things used to clean out welding nozzles, might be ok to make small adjustments to a nut, but I wouldn't consider them useful as nut files, for building new nuts.
     I used to work as a welder, and the small ones last minutes.
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  • prowlaprowla Frets: 4896
    I just bought a set on ebay - they are rather small, similar to a set of Allen keys.

    There were some others on offer which seem to just be a set of needle files.

    I'm not sure if anybody makes the right thing at a reasonable price.
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  • AlnicoAlnico Frets: 4616
    edited February 2019
    I took the plunge and bought the 11 piece set from Hosco, in fact it was my Christmas present along with levelling beams and other useful stuff.
    They're excellent.

    I couldn't find any others that were anything like proper files for less, although I'm aware that smaller sets are cheaper.

     £145 and they go up to 0.056".
    How I actually got the 11 piece set was to buy the 10 piece set for £132 and an extra file that wasn't included in that set for £13.
    While we were there collecting them, Dan showed me that there is an 11 piece set listed by Hosco but not on their website and not held in stock. The price difference was negligible so we did it this way.
    Most of my guitars have a 0.052" E string and the 10 piece set went from 0.046" to 0.056" at the thick end of the scale, neither one of them ideal to work on a 0.052" nut slot. The closest I could get was 0.050" which, with a little bit of gentle persuasion, will work.

    Mine came from Tone Tech in Stockport.
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  • KeefyKeefy Frets: 2272
    I bought a set from Stewart MacDonald a few years ago. The ticket price was around £28, but import duty and handling fees took that to over £50.

    They've been well worth it though.
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  • steamabacussteamabacus Frets: 1258
    edited February 2019
    I don't think there's any cheap options that actually work. Ebay is full of those welder tools or basic needle files that are listed as nut files but they aren't going to be much use for cutting nut slots.

    I went through this same search for a set of nut files as cheap as possible recently. The best I came up with was this set of 3 Hosco double sided (10-46 gauges) for £70 from Axecaster...

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  • exocetexocet Frets: 1949
    I've just bought a set from Stewmac...was lured in by the 10% discount offered to U.K customers....almost as if Brexit was happening. They sell standard sets of 6 (fixed sizes) for a discount but will also apply same discount if you choose your own 6 sizes. Just received customs notification.........£29 to pay on top of the order......oh well.
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  • I don't think there's any cheap options that actually work. Ebay is full of those welder tools or basic needle files that are listed as nut files but they aren't going to be much use for cutting nut slots.

    I went through this same search for a set of nut files as cheap as possible recently. The best I came up with was this set of 3 Hosco double sided (10-46 gauges) for £70 from Axecaster...

    Thats the set I decided to go for, but direct from their website: https://www.axecaster.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=42&products_id=302&zenid=duc1ms9oj4ie39o94tqve3ogr3

    Been great so far, no issues and have cut flawlessly.
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  • Thanks all - looks like Hosco is the way to go! 



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  • JalapenoJalapeno Frets: 6378
    Keefy said:
    I bought a set from Stewart MacDonald a few years ago. The ticket price was around £28, but import duty and handling fees took that to over £50.

    They've been well worth it though.
    Me too ...
    Imagine something sharp and witty here ......

    Feedback
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